FEATURES

From the 24th of August to the 30th of October 2016 three major earthquakes have destroyed the towns along the border of Abruzzo, Umbria, Marche and Lazio, causing the death of 299 people.
As a consequence of the three earthquakes in central Italy, 26 thousand people were evacuated and allocated in prefabricated houses, hotels and camps.
One year after, many hilltop towns and villages are still left in ruins causing frustration among the residents for the slow pace of reconstruction.
Commemorative ceremonies were carried out to remember the victims. A memorial was set up in the park in central Amatrice where people came to pay their respects to their loved ones killed in the Amatrice earthquake the year before.
To this day, only 10 percent of the estimated two million tons of rubble in the damaged towns and villages has been cleared away, while even the restoration of basic services such as power and water supplies remain unsolved.

Are the main Italian cities going to become ghost towns brought to life only by tourists? According to a new report from the University of Siena, Airbnb, a worldwide accommodation service, is pushing permanent residents out of historic city centres, creating a “Disneyland effect” in places such as Florence.
According to the study, residents prefer to rent out properties to tourists rather than living themselves in big cities. For example, in Florence, one in five properties in the historic centre is being rented out through Airbnb, turning the city into a “theme park for tourists”. Every single flat on a short-term let is one flat less in the regular long-term market, depriving the market of properties that could be used by permanent residents. Almost 20 per cent of the entire housing stock in the historic centre of Florence is listed on Airbnb. This situation is even more worrying in the historic city of Matera, in the south of Italy, where more than 25 per cent of the local housing stock is available to be rented on Airbnb.

The gelato (ice-cream) season starts in Italy by the end of May and finishes by the end of September. Unlike the British, Italians don’t eat ice-cream in winter. Ice-cream shops are usually open only during the summer but supermarkets will always provide the packaged ice-cream.
In Italy during the summer, there are ice-cream shops at every corner, but how do you spot good Italian Gelato?
There are some tricks anyone can use to spot real gelato.
Starting from its container, good gelato should be kept in flat metal tins, which may have lids on them, to keep it at the right temperature. The height of an ice cream in the container is also relevant. Ice-cream shouldn’t be piled up too high because real gelato would melt and if it doesn't, it means it is rich in vegetable fats and emulsifiers. How it is served can also give a hint: flat, metal spades are better tools than curved ice cream scoops, because good gelato is supposed to have a dense texture.

Italian food is very much loved by the British, but they sometimes break the rules of cooking and eating Italian food, causing disapproval of Italian chefs and the embarrassment of Italians.
Let’s see some of the things Italians would never do or eat:
- Cooking “spaghetti alla carbonara” with cream instead of egg yolks is apparently a common mistake British restaurants make;
- Pasta should never be salted after being cooked but it should always be put in boiling water seasoned with sea salt;
- Parmesan mustn’t be put on seafood or clams, as it overpowers the sea flavours. The same goes for dishes containing truffles, because cheese kills the delicate balance of flavours. Grating Parmesan all over anything hot enough to melt it is another error, hated by Italian chefs. Also putting Cheddar cheese instead of Parmesan is an outrageous thing Italians in the UK often complain about

Italian food is very much loved by the British, but they sometimes break the rules of cooking and eating Italian food, causing disapproval of Italian chefs and the embarrassment of Italians.
Let’s see some of the things Italians would never do or eat:
- Cooking “spaghetti alla carbonara” with cream instead of egg yolks is apparently a common mistake British restaurants make;
- Pasta should never be salted after being cooked but it should always be put in boiling water seasoned with sea salt;

Fashion designer, Laura Biagiotti died at the age of 74 due to complications following a heart attack. She was defined by the “New York times” as the “Queen of Cashmere” for the use of this precious wool in many of her garments. She was also one of the first fashion designers to put on a fashion show in China and in 1995 she was the first to have a show inside the Kremlin in Moscow.

Liguria in northwest Italy is once again the region with the highest number of Blue Flag beaches in 2017. The international Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has revealed the chart of Italian beaches awarded with the “blue flag” 2017. The total number of resorts in Italy to be given the prestigious eco-label for cleanliness and sustainability rose this year by 49 beaches more than last year. In 2017, for the 30th edition of the blue flag beaches report, Italy's total has risen to 342 beaches, a full 5% of the worldwide total.
Launched in 1987, the FEE's Blue Flag programme uses strict criteria on water quality, environmental education and management, safety and services to monitor sustainable development of beaches and marinas worldwide.

A young Italian entrepreneur, the 24 year old Matteo Achilli has become a celebrity for his start-up “Egomnia”, a social network to connect Italian Bocconi University graduates to the world of work. "The Start-up," was turned into a recently released film, celebrating the success of the “Italian Mark Zuckerberg”. The film caused further reflection and journalists’ investigations on Matteo Achilli's story which cast new light on his allegedly extraordinary success.

Italian media are more often attracting criticism from the public. This might be due to an increased awareness of sexism and violence towards women, a much discussed problem in the last years.
This time the centre of polemics was a “prank” shown on an Italian talent show, which caused the indignation of many people and the reaction of an organisation campaigning against sexual violence. The organisation called for Italy's politicians to introduce comprehensive ethical guidelines for media.

Blue wine? Why not? A mix of Curacao (a liqueur flavoured with the dried peel of the Iarha citrus fruit, grown on the island of Curaçao), peach and prosecco may be sold in the next months in Italy.
The reaction of wine purists was harsh as they said it was an insult to national tradition.